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The Big List Of Video Editors (Windows Edition)

While there are many really good open source / freeware programs that can replace the commercial products from all possible areas this isn’t true for video editors. Granted if you only want to do some very basic editing like trimming then there are some free video editors which get that job done. However for everything slightly more advanced you do need a professional video editor. Over the years I have tested dozens of free and commercial video editors and my favorite program is Sony Vegas. So I recommend that one but I have also listed some other alternatives for your consideration.

Note that some professional video editors offer free trial versions with no restrictions at all beside the time limitation (which is usually 30 days). If you are on a shoestring budget this might be enough time to edit your video.

COMMERCIAL VIDEO EDITORS

In terms of stability, functionality, ease of use and price this is the best piece of video editing software that i have tried yet.
It comes in 3 flavours:
The standard (45$), the advanced (95$) and the professional edition (600$).
Here is a comparison table of all 3 versions.

Are you on a shoestring budget?
Each version can be tested fully for 30 Days with no limitations.
Due to the fact that there are 3 different versions it means that you can basically have 90 days of free editing.
Then when you were satisfied with the “testing phase” consider to get a version that fits your budget.
Here are also some Reviews.

Alternatives To Sony Vegas

Here are some decent alternatives to Sony Vegas:
Adobe Premiere Pro and Avid Media Composer are high end products and used in the film industry.
(Also Final Cut Pro but that is for Mac only).
Avid Studio is a more consumer oriented product for a smaller price tag.
The same rings true for Pinnacle Studio, Power Director and Premiere Elements 9.
Moreover I have also heard that Magix Movie Edit Pro is good as well.

FREEWARE VIDEO EDITORS

According to it’s website it’s an award winning video editor that went open source recently.
It was already used to edit many blockbusters and therefore i assume that it is a good piece of software.
However the interface is quite different from other NLE (Non Linear Editors) and therefore needs some time to get used to it.
Since the beta version crashed all the time when i tried to use it i decided to not longer bother with that program.
As said the program is probably pretty good but it didn’t worked for me.
Here is also a Review.

In comparison with the classic Movie Maker the newest installment of the famous video editor happens to be a bigger download with additional stuff that you might not need or want to be installed on your system.
If that’s the case you can still go with the older yet slimmer Windows Movie Maker 2.6 (Windows 7) or Windows Movie Maker 2.1 (Windows XP) where you don’t have to load your system with additional shenanigans like the Windows Live Photo Gallery etc.